Steve Bruce has challenged his side to get the job done against Leicester City and avoid a nervous finale.
Defeat at the King Power Stadium leaves the door open for Fulham to cut the points gap down to six going into the last three games.
And with Newcastle set to play the Cottagers on the final day, Bruce is desperate to avoid a last day shoot-out.
Bruce said: "If we beat Leicester we are virtually there. You can't take anything for granted though,
"We are a lot more healthy than we were six weeks ago.
"We have Leicester and Man City next week and have tough games, but it is still in our hands.
"The team around us got results and we didn't."
But Bruce says that Newcastle need a big improvement if they are to get anywhere near a result at Leicester.
Bruce added: "We weren't anywhere near the level we should be at against Arsenal.
"We have to do better."
Bruce is still hoping to beat last season's points tally of 44, he reflected: "I aimed when I got here...we got 44 points the year I got there.
"We had 43 points with a couple of games to go last season and tailed away. Can we beat that tally?"
Bruce is yet to better Rafa Benitez's best tally of points in the 2019/20 season when the Spaniard picked up 45.
Meanwhile, Bruce offered a positive fitness update on his squad, he said: "Everybody has come through unscathed.
"We lost the appeal with Fab Schar but everybody else is OK."
